By Kim J. Harmon

SIMSBURY – It seemed that no matter how well Kate Bouteiller was determined to play last Saturday, fate was going to find a way to even the score.

If not for the efforts of Bouteiller, the Nighthawks’ senior goaltender, Newtown might have found itself in a deep, muddy hole early in a CIAC_Class LL_quarterfinal match with Simsbury.

Boutty withstood some enormous pressure from No. 4-ranked Simsbury and kept the game knotted at 0-0 until there was just 67 seconds left to play in the first half.

Then the weather, the wet field, and fate itself got the better of her.

Bouteiller was shifting across the end line as play moved across the field, but Kate McGregor intercepted a pass near the top of the box and dribbled a weak shot towards the goal. Bouteiller had to abruptly change direction, but slipped on the wet ground and could do nothing but watch the ball roll meekly over the end line.

And then another fluke goal in the second half – a hard shot off the cross bar by Jennifer Meek that rebounded off her back and into the net – gave Simsbury its shocking, 2-0 victory.

The ‘Hawks - who went into the CIAC_Class LL_tournament ranked fifth, right behind Simsbury - finished up 14-3-2.

The Nighthawks reached the quarterfinal match with Simsbury thanks to a relatively comfortable, 3-0 win over Danbury last Thursday. Except for a somewhat slow start in that game, the ‘Hawks dominated their neighbors to the southwest.

It wasn’t until there was 4:06 left in the first half that the ‘Hawks took a 1-0 lead. It started with the phenomenal throw-in of Allison Frobey, which sailed right into the box, glanced off Jessica Oswald, and found the foot of striker Colleen Davis.

Davis punched the ball just inside the right post for the score.

Despite their confidence they would prevail, the ‘Hawks had to do some scrambling early in the second half to keep the Lady Hatters at bay. Just 3:03 into the second half, Bouteiller had to make a save on a point-blank shot and 18 minutes later had to sprawl out to make another tough save.

That ended up being the extent of the Danbury pressure, though. With 15:35 left to play, the ‘Hawks all but put the match away on a header goal by striker Shannon Rouse. Rouse had taken a ball in the middle, near the top of the box, and pushed it wide to Erin McDonald. Then McD, all alone at the end line, crossed a ball perfectly into the box so Rouse could head it just under the crossbar.

With 5:55 left to play, Davis added her second goal – the capper. It was her 13th goal of the season, a left-footed blast from the right wing that snuck right past the goaltender.

It was a convincing win - but what it did was send the ‘Hawks north on I-84 to Simsbury to take on a team that finished 13-0-3 during the regular season.

And for good reason.

Maybe it had something to do with their hosts boasting a two-time All-American on the field, but Simsbury, as a whole, was an intense, physical team with excellent passing skills and the ability to sustain a relentless level of pressure on the goal.

The pressure began right away and the Nighthawks’ defense was forced, at times, to scramble desperately to prevent a scoring opportunity.

Bouteiller was forced to begin protecting the goal immediately – just seconds after the opening kick. She finished with 19 saves on the day and many of them were not easy.